Brownish water flows in the Santiam Canal at the Vine Street treatment plant on Tuesday evening, Nov. 7, 2023.
Albany’s two treatment plants have been dealing with a raw-water supply that is unusually muddy. The question is whether this is causing any problems.
Not according to Kristin Preston, the city’s public works operations manager.
After noticing the brown water running in the Santiam Canal over the weekend, I asked Preston about any problems the muddy water was causing.
“No problems with water treatment,” she replied on Monday. “I’m told by the water treatment plant supervisor that this increased turbidity actually makes it easier to treat. The particles more easily clump together to settle and filter out. He said we are good at treating muddy water.”
The Santiam Canal, which feeds the historic Vine Street treatment plant above the Calapooia River downtown, diverts water from the South Santiam River a few miles above Lebanon.
The South Santiam has been running muddy with sediment, apparently washed down from the newly exposed banks of Green Peter Reservoir. The Army Corps of Engineers has drawn down the lake drastically because of a ruling by a federal judge.
The city’s other, newer treatment plant, off Scravel Hill, draws water from the Santiam River a few hundred feet below the confluence of the South and North Santiam. Presumably that mixed flow is not as muddy as the South Santiam alone.
The canal still looked pretty muddy on Tuesday night. So did Cathey Creek in West Albany, which is fed from the canal.
The clear water coming out of Albany and Millersburg taps was testimony to the efficiency of modern water treatment and the expertise of the city employees who run the plants. (hh)
Good to know, Hasso. Thank you. And, thank you city water treatment employees.
“you might think there has been more than enough growth already.”
Imagine that.
You may wonder why you no longer see my name in the D-H letters column (or maybe not). I subscribed to the newspaper for 40 years or so, recent changes prompted my departure. VERY little content for outrageous prices.
This is all so unnecessary, imagine a company muddying up the river this bad, who would then go to jail for this.
The Corps of Engineers is to blame. Just take a drive up to Green Peter and you’ll see the reason why. They are killing every fish in Green Peter as we speak and not doing anything for our run on the Santiam river. Since they killed every fish in the last 7 years.
I am wondering if even Foster will be able to be filled next spring, for summer recreation. Its something I look forward to all winter. Does anyone know? Don’t they usually end up filling Foster from Green Peter, when they’re finally allowed to fill Foster, mid May or something like that?